MOAR American armor..


Ok.. the Americans are always one to ensure that they are not one upped! And with all the Japanese armor finished, they needed something more to be added to their forces.

I had ordered a few more tanks a while back, and they just got finished casting up from the Xmas rush at Warlords.

The main tank for me the M26 Pershing. Although it is a heavy, and worth a ton of points in game, and does not have that much really available within it to do that much damage... it is a massive tank to cause psychological warfare against my opponents. And to be used when no care is given to the outcome of the game :) Having played against many Heavy and Super Heavy tanks with my light and medium tanks, and the heavies going down fast, I know it is not worth the point. But it was fun to put together and try out new techniques on all the same.

Especially on this one, as I pulled out an art book called TankArt. A book that I borrowed from John Harrison of the Weekend Workshop for over a year to read, before finally just buying my own. And within it there is a step by step on how they go about to paint up a 1/24 scale Pershing. So I figured most of the steps could be used here on this one as well..


Some of the techniques were old ones used in a new way for me. One of which is chipping.. but without chipping fluids, or hairspray. The technique plays on different types of paints ( Enamels vs Acrylics ) and the thinners for them.

So in this case the Pershing was basecoated with Tamiya Dark Green, and then followed by some other greens whose names I forgot. I did not have all the proper colors that the book mentioned, but I had something close enough, and would give my model something different :)

But over the enamels from Tamiya we laid down Acrylic Olive Drab/Greens from Vallejo Model colors. Mostly zenthinal in nature, keeping the shadows holding the original color. I know now that I could have done almost the full tank in acrylics once I started the weathering process.

Once the acrylics are laid down, taking a wet, but not soaked, brush full of Tamiya thinner, I would drybrush it over the model. It would slowly pull up some of the acrylics, and leave the coloring of the darker Tamiya base showing. I have to say that it was really cool to see how this worked, and how easy it was overall. As stated, I probably could have done better overall with it had I done more top level of greens before this chipping step.

Another thing that it talked about was difference in texture of the metals. Where a lot of it would be matte from war torn and dust etc.. some more heavy traffic areas would be a bit more shiny from overuse. Their tip? Take a hard, condensed q-tip and rub it softly in the area. It will shine the paint up, giving it that sheen from overuse, without ruining the paint ( too much.. depending on how heavy you do it! ).


I would then go on to do things like pigments and such. In some areas it came out ok and everything worked well.. such as inside the track sections.. in others I would go overboard, do too much, and it would look like a mix of whitewash or snow.. such as well.. everywhere except the track sections :)

Live and learn on this, and I must work on my ability to mist the thinner/pigment fixer over the model instead of pooling it.. and also have more patience when letting it dry before placing more :) Oh and probably knowing more of what colors these pieces change to once dry :)

Overall I think it was a nice piece to play around with. I used the graphite stick that Raffa gave me years ago to give some of the shine an extra boost. I suspect this will not be the last time I do this, and I think I will be playing around with pigments a bit more in the future.. let's see how those turn out..

Enjoy the weekend.. mine will be full of infantry painting.. with photos of them hopefully sometime next week.. hope the weather is miserable for most and gives everyone a chance to stay inside with some hobby related activities.. Enjoy!

Comments

  1. You've got some interesting techniques going on there, nicely done Sir.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Mr. Lee !

    Nice stuff you have going on - been popping in now and again to see what you've been up to.
    :)

    Concerning pigments : I've never found the need to actually use a fixer/diluant/thinner/... of any kind.

    For light weathering (water streaks, ...) I just lightly brush the pigment on - starting with the lightest colour.

    For heavy weathering, I just pool some pigment unto the specific area & brush again.

    Only in very specific instances I'm using a bit of water running along the surface/... to act as a
    medium for the powder.

    It means I can go back later on if I want to rework stuff (as just a bit of water is usually sufficient to remove most of the pigment).

    If you want, I can sent you some pictures of some miniatures so you can see the result.

    Cheers!

    Geert
    aka Greldinard

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Geert.. I agree that at times pigment fixer etc is not needed, but it depends on what the use of the vehicle is for would it not?

      So in this case, it will be used heavily in table top gaming, and being transported in foam. Wouldn't dry pigments rub off quite a bit over time and or get all over the place inside the transport then?

      If I were to do one just for show, I don't think I would need the fixer for it. Though thats if I do them right in the first place :)

      Happy to see photos.. send them to mrleesminis@gmail.com, and we can chat more there!

      Delete
    2. You're welcome MrLee :)

      Pictures are heading your way asap :)

      And as for TTGaming use - so are my models.

      But I agree - the way of handling them does influence the pigment.
      But so far, I haven't had any problems or a transport filled with pigment :)

      Delete
  3. Excellent work - nice painting tips, too.

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